324 STAGE-COACH' AND MAIL IN DAYS OF YORE 



We may never before jiave journeyed to Edin- 

 burgh, but johotograplis have rendered us so long 

 familiar with its castle and rock that we 

 cannot recollect a time when Ave were not familiar 

 with the j^hysical geograj^hy of the " modern 

 Athens," and we seem to have been l)orn with 

 a knoAvledge of the geographical peculiarities of 

 every other plac(\ We are, therefore^ naturally 

 bored and unres2)onsive in situations Avhere our 

 grandfathers were surprised and delighted ; but 

 although possessed thereby with a j^rofoiuid 

 dissatisfaction with ourselves, we cannot hope 

 to win back to the unsophisticated joj^s of old 

 time. 



Would that it could be done ! The Avish is 

 everyAvhere evident, but only Lethean waters could 

 sweep aAvay the useless lumber of mental Imggage 

 that destroys imagination and blunts the senses. 

 The many efforts made to bring back the " pro- 

 perties " — to sjx'ak in the theatrical sense — of 

 old time are pitiful or ridiculous, as your humour 

 Avills it. These are the days Avhen things quaint 

 and old-fashioned are reA'iAed for sake of their 

 quaintness, sometimes in spite of their incon- 

 venience and unsuitability ; Avhen ingle-nooks 

 and oj)en hearths Avith fire-dogs are built into 

 modern houses for effect, although sIoaa'-coui- 

 bustion stoves are infinitely more comfortable 

 aiul less wasteful of fuel. Our forbears, Avho 

 did not knoAV sloAV-combustion stoves, Avere not 

 the creatures of sentiment that Ave are, and 

 A^'ould soon have abolished oj)en hearths for the 



